Mumbai calling for Virgin Atlantic: Will it be ‘third time lucky’ for Richard Branson?

Will it be ‘third time lucky’ for Richard Branson in Mumbai? The founder of British airline Virgin Atlantic surely hopes so.

In October, the carrier for the third time in its 20-year history in India, launched services between Mumbai and London.Virgin Atlantic first pulled back from Mumbai in 2008. Four years later, it relaunched with much fanfare only to pull back in 2015.

All the while, Virgin Atlantic continued with its Delhi-London flights. The British capital is the busiest long haul destination from India.

While giving out hope that there won't be a fourth time, Branson underlined that it was an opportune time for his airline to come back to Mumbai.

His colleague Juha Jarvinen, EVP, Commercial, explained: "In the last five years, the market in Mumbai has grown by 25 percent. And, despite Virgin Atlantic launching services, the capacity in the Mumbai-London route is still down 35-40 percent (compared to 2018)."

The opportunity has come up after Jet Airways, which had the highest share in international traffic to and from India, suspended operations in April. In the winter of 2018, for instance, about 5.5 lakh passengers travelled between London and Mumbai. About 3.2 lakh of them flew with Jet Airways.

And, even though the relaunch of Virgin Atlantic flights on the route has helped temper fares, ticket rates are still high. It is a situation that will convert to high margins for airlines.

Both Branson and Jarvinen have said that the airline is looking into the possibility of a London-Manchester flight, something that Jet Airways offered. Later, Jarvinen told Moneycontrol that the airline was also examining options to start services to Bengaluru. But, he declined to give a launch date, adding that it was too early to commit.

Overall, the airline is tripling its services in India, with plans to add another flight between Delhi-London in the summer of 2020.

Sharing one of the secrets of Virgin Atlantic completing 35 years in an industry that has seen many players, including Jet Airways, going down, Branson has said that many of his peers are 'embarrassed' about pulling out from routes that are not profitable.

The Mumbai route, he added, had become 'expensive'. Thus, the airline decided to discontinue its services. But, now, the conditions are conducive again.

The Jet impact

Virgin Atlantic had a code-share agreement with Jet Airways that got discontinued after the Indian airline had suspended its operations.

The agreement allowed fliers of either of the airlines to make use of the combined networks and travel seamlessly across destinations.

Branson said that he was looking out for similar partnerships with Indian airlines. While he was tight-lipped on names, the entrepreneur said that Virgin Atlantic was a 'unique' bride.

"We are actively looking at options and happy to team up with domestic partners," added Jarvinen.

To complement its Mumbai re-launch, the airline also unveiled a new "Indian flying icon" Aria, which will feature on the side of its aircraft in 2020.

The 'flying lady' is inspired and named after Branson's great great grandmother, an Indian, who had married a Branson. A test of his saliva, added Branson, revealed that four generations of Bransons have lived in Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu.

Right now, though, Branson's focus is on Mumbai, which is also where another pet project of the entrepreneur is located.

The Virgin Group founder will meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray later on December 12 to 'clear any misunderstanding if any' over the ambitious hyperloop project that aims to connect Mumbai with Pune.

Branson's Virgin Hyperloop One has bagged the project, which promises to reduce travel time between Mumbai-Pune to less than 35 mins from over three hours now. Experts compare the high speed transportation system to a bullet train.